Closure-operating mechanism



March 17. 1925.

H. G. 'KNAPP ET AL CLOSURE OPERATING MECHANISI I s Shets-Sh9et 1 Filed June 3, 1924 March 17, 1925.

H. e. KNAPP ET AL CLOSURE OPERATING MECHANISM Filed June 5, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwventots March 11, 1925. 1,529,798 I H. G. KNAPP ET AL CLOSURE OPERATING MECHANISI Filed June 3. 1924 3 Sheets+$hoet '3 flfl/frrapp Mal/ammo- Patented Mar. 17, 1925.

-UNI TED TA lI-IARRYEG. KN12P:ANDW1ILMM mailman-Mme. New-H .DAKQ 'A.

- (iLOSfiBE'QBEB -K N MEQHANIS Application filed June 3, 1924. Serial No. 717,593.

i adapted foruse'in connection with doors 01' either a swinging. or sliding type.

It, is also an object ,of the invention to provide a novel and improved mechanism "of this characterfor :usein connection with a door or doors associated with a driveway and wherein the mechanism is ,soinounted or arranged to offer noihinderance or obstruction to the free passage of a vehicle when said gdoor ordoors may be in open position. I

EEurthermore it, ,i'svan object ot' the in vcn- ,tion to provide a. novel, and improved nechlIllSl'll of ,this general character --Wherein either mechanical or manual neans inay be employed to effect; the desired opening or closingloftheldoor or doors, the-manual means beifngpreferably for use in emerzgency rsuc'h as when jthe niechanical means [may be ineffective.

(Another objectotflm invention is to providea novel and lmPFOVBCl I11G0l1311l$11l ,of thisgeneraltype operating to efiect an openor closing Ofzd. door or doors together ingat a {tinierbetore the door is completely opened or closed, said absorbing means also operating toefiec-t :the conipleteopening or closing of the door.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel vand,improvedanecha afiln ofthis general. character wherein al fiexible inediuinsuch as a cable is .opoerativelygiengaged with a {door to be opened orelosed upon said flexible means ,O1 Q%blgl30 ffll the; desired, opening or closing; movement.

Apstilli further object otvtheainvention is to provide a novel and improved mechanism of this-general character constructed and pnperating, in 1a manner to prevent injury to a with a shoclcfabsorbinginediun functiony.iew of, thei tructur 21S illus 1, Tees; 7 I

,person WYlIO Ylnay be caught by a door; when A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved mechan sm 0t this general character which, may be mounted or arranged within t-he' 'bui'lding with which i the dooi'sfare associated land constructed in a manner whereby a single endless cable may be employedkto transmit the requis te powerto open and close-the doors.

The invention consists in the details of construction and in the comb nation and-a1"- 'ran-ge1nent;of the several parts of our improved closure operating fnechan snr here certain importantadvantages are atta'ined and the'jdevice rendered simpler, less "expensive and otherwise more convenient and advantageous for use, {IS-W111 be hereina fte'r more fully setforth.

The novel features of our invention will hereinafter be definitely claimed.-

Inorder that our invention may bet'he better understood, we will nowprocee to describe the same with reference to {the accornpanying drawings, ,jvherein Figure 1 is a View. intop plan illustrating a mechanism constructed" in accordance With an embodiment of our invention in appliet'l position; the second position otthe" doors being indicatedby broken lines;

Figure 2 is an enlarged{ lz'ragnj entary view partly in elevationand partly in-section 0f' the means for rot atfling the drum as herein CllSClOSBCl;

iliigure 3 is a view in top plan of the structure'jas illustratedfin Figure 2;

Fig re 4 is; a' sectional view taken substantially on the jline' t' ofFigure 2;

F i gure .5 is a fragmentaryi'ele'vational view. illustrating the operating crank in ap- ,pj i d pes n;

Fi'gureb is 'a view of the crank unapeF g r 7 i a .irasmentary he e a n Figure 8. is a fragmentary viewj n top a v .p ii lus wt ng hi oersin ep pqs t p together with means toa nposerequlsltepull v your inten vne his!a new sreeti eeilt e megting ends of the doors in closed relation; an

Figure 12 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the meeting ends of the doors separated.

In. the embodiment of the invention as illustrated in Figures 1 to 8, our improved mechanism is particularly adapted for use in connection with doors of a swinging type and wherein a pair of doors D are supported for swinging movement and moving outwardly into open position.

The upper portion. of each of the doors D adjacent its inner or hinged marginal portion is provided with an inwardly disposed plate 1. This plate 1 is in the form of a right triangle. Supported with'n the building at a predetermined point inwardly of the door opening at one side thereof is a double sheave 2 and carried by the door casement adjacent to the outer ends of the plates 1, when the doors are closed, are the double sheaves 3 and 4. Supported by the wall at the opposite side of the door opening and inwardly thereof is a single sheave 5. A cable 6 passes around the single sheave 5 while the stretches a and b of said cable are operatively engaged with the sheaves 2, 3 and 4:, said stretches being connected, as at 7, with the outer end portions of the plates 1 so that upon pull being imposed upon one of the stretches the doors D will be swung outwardly in unison into open position while pull upon the second stretch will swing said doors inwardly into closed position.

The cable 6 is of an endless type and is wrapped around a drum 8 andsuitably secured or attached, as at 9, at a point arranged substantially at the transverse center of the periphery of said drum or more particularly the peripheral groove 10 in which the cable is wrapped. The cable may be wrapped around the drum any desired number of times but preferably three.

As herein disclosed, the drum has formed with a side face thereof a gearv 11 concentric to the axis of the drum and disposed axially through the drum 8 and gear 11 is an opening 12 through which is adapted to be disposed a supporting axle 14. The portion 14 of the axle 14 inwardly of the drum 8 is enlarged to provide a head which snugly fits within an opening 15 provided in a supporting member 16 such as a plank of requisite dimensions. The outer portion of the head is defined by an outstanding flange 17 which contacts with the inner face of the supporting member 16 and disposed through said flange 17 and supporting member 16 are the bolts 18. This particular mounting of the axle 14 assures requisite strength to offset the strain imposed thereupon when the drum 8 is rotated to move the doors into either open or closed suitably mounted upon the support 16 here inbefore referred to. In communication with the cylinder 23 at opposite sides of the piston 22 and preferably through the heads 2 1 are the pipe lines 25 leading from a suit: able source of air under pressure, the flow through said l nes being controlled in any desired manner as by a suitable valve or valves (not shown). 7

Upon air under pressure being admitted. within the cylinder through one end there" of the rack 19 will be operated in a direction to move the doors D into open position while admission of air under pressure at the opposite side of the piston 22 will serve to move the doors D into closed position.

- Threaded through the outer head 24 of the cylinder 23 is a bolt 26 which serves as Y a stop to limit the movement of the piston 22 in one direction. By adjusting or vary-cc ing the position of this bolt 26 the stroke of the piston 22 may be regulated to compensate for doors of varying widths and which;

'is of especial advantage when the doors are of a sliding type as will hereinafter be more particularly referred to.

' Adjacent to the double sheave 2 is an out standing bracket or arm 27 to which are secured the retractilemembers or coil springs 28 and 29 coacting respectively with the stretches a and b of the flexible member or cable 6, each of said members or springs being provided at its outer ends with the rollers 30 engaging with the stretch a or b.

By this arrangement the springs or members 28 and 29 serve to maintain the stretches a and 7) of the cable 6 taut and in a manner whereby when the doors D are in closed position one of said members or springs, as 28, is under tension.

In practice, the piston 22 goes to the end of its stroke before the doors are fully closed or fully opened and at which time one of the springs, as 28, is fully extended. The action of this extended spring is with the second spring 29 which, together with the momentum of the doors D, serve to bring the doors together or into complete closed position. The member or spring 29 being substantially fully" contracted when the stroke of the piston 22 is ended serves to retard the momentum-of the doors D and to equalize V are hereby peunits lienn o some; 'teg t s y d. 'it-heutfilaagern Qt r ord these springs QSandJZQs'er e a shock absorbing leltliu irau W thout hich he-d r would soon pound themselves to pieces, This shock orbing. ed imtae aff rdeifil y t e pr g? 8 nd a so. e 'vesas safe yjdr for he. easoa. ha the a tion, o .7 h pi 2 ea es etere he. QQrsMtefiflly ele 'en this permits a; person or -mo re particularly a r armor leg. ebf ughtbetw en he doors without serious injury as there would be only the tension of the springs 28 and 29 upon the doors in thei --final-closing-movement; and whiclr in flpractice isfora d stance between .1 six 01- eight ineh'es- How'- ever, the parts maybe-so adjusted to cause the springs" 28 and 29 tofunction;anywhere between the lastfouritoei-ght inches of closing nioveinent thus naininii'zi g-the danger of. injuring 'm child or dog) By having the drun'i 8 and thecylinder23 mounted upon a comn'ionsupporting meinber, 16*tl1'es'e portions of the mechanism can be supplied 1 in proper assembly; and ready to be mounted at-a desired location and which can be 5 at any placeprefe'rred other than directly upon either 3 of-- the doors D.

Secured. to ,the outer-eI l2bortion of the axle 14 "and held thereto -by-a set screw 31 or the like is an upstanding arm 32 the upper end portion of which carrying a roller 33 contacting with the rack 19 from above and thereby providing a retaining means for not only holding the drum 8 and gear 11 on the axle 14 but also maintaining the rack 19 in mesh with the gear, 11. y

In case anything should go wrong with the air lines, the piston or more particularly the packing therefor should become worn and leaky or either the rod 21 or rack 19 become bent or broken or any part of such mechanism be temporarily put out of co1n mission the emergency can be readily met by the use of the crank 34. In applying the crank 34, the rack 19 is first disconnected from the rod 21 and removed as is also the arm 32. The crank 34 is then engaged with the outer end portion of the axle 14 and secured to the gear 11 by the screws 35 preferably arranged at opposite sides of the opening 36 in the crank through which the outer end portion of the axle 14 is disposed. After the crank 34 has been thus applied a collar 37 is slipped on the axle 14 outwardly of the crank 34 and held in desired position by the binding screw 38. With the crank 34 applied the doors D may be readily moved into open or closed position by manual operations and which can be employed until the necessary repairs have been made.

In the embodiment of our invention as illustrated in Figures 9 to 12, we disclose an embodiment for use in connection with sliding doors D: Tlre-meeting-edges-of' tlrese doors .at:-the up-per portionth'ereo-f'ltaye -se curedtotheir "inner faces the-outstanding brackets 39, each of said brackets beinottset with respect to the door 1); t0-Wh;1Cll it is attachedsufiici ant to clear theassociated door'when'; in'closed position and' alsorto permit the outer end portion of 'saidarm-o-r bi acket 39to beconnected'to a stretehKo-fian endless cable'6a' This cable 6 passes around the single sheave 40- at one-sider-offthedoor opening 5!: andengages the doublesheave 41at the opposite side of said door-opening, said sheaves being supportedby the door casing 42 and irotati-ng about verticallydi s posed" axes. The rc c'lu-isite -pull! upon, the endless'cable 6- isaccomplished i1 1-tl1e saine manner as V has; been recited in connection with the first embodiment of our invention as herein set forth and the stretches -o-f th-is 1 cable 6": alsoliave associated. therewith a shock. absorbingmedium similar=- 1'10: that hereinbetore described.

Thearms or brackets 39 extending -as they do. beyond themeeting edges oiiithedoo rs as sure said doors being movediint ozfullzzopen [)OSlt-IOII. i

The bolt- 26 is particularly adapted for use when our improved mechanism is en1- ployed in connection with sliding "doors as herei-nbefore referred to-ahd the desiredadustment of said bolt 26 may be maintained in a well-known manner through the medium of a locking nut 43.

While our improved mechanism may be employed with advantage in connection with garages or other relatively heavy doors it is particularly adapted for use in connection with the doors of a grain elevator and wherein it is required that the operating mechanism for such doors be contained within the elevator and associated with the inner sides of the doors. Further such mechanisms to be used in connection with grain elevators must be of a character where no cables or chains will obstruct the drive way to prevent free passage of a vehicle during its entrance or exit. Furthermore in connection with grain elevators it is required when swinging doors are employed that they move outwardly into open position. Our inventlon as herein disclosed fully meets all necessary requirements.

From the foregoing description it is thought to be obvious that a closure operating mechanism constructed in accordance with our invent-ion is particularly well adapted for use by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will also be obvious that our invention is susceptible of some change and modification without departing from the principles and spirit there of and for this reason we do not wish to be understood as limiting ourselves to the pro cise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out our invention in practice except as hereinafter claimed.

e claim r I 1. In combination with a closure member supported for movement into open or closed position, means for moving said door toward either of said positions, said means becoming inactive before the door is completely closed or opened, and automatic means for completing the opening or closing movement of the door.

2. In combination with a closure member movable into open or closed position, means for moving said member toward closed positio-n, said means becoming inactivebefore the door is completely closed, and automatic means for completing the closing movement of the door.

3' In combination with a closure member movable into eitheropen or closed position, a flexible member operatively engaged with the door, means for imposing pull on said flexible member to move said door toward closed'position, said means becoming mactive before the door is completely closed, and means ooacting with the flexible member for completing the closing movement of the door.

4. In combination with a closure member movable into either open or closed position, a drum, a flexible member adapted to wind around the drum, said member being operatively engaged with the door to move, the door into either open or closed position upon requisite rotation of the drum, means for rotating the drum, said flexible member being endless, the means for rotating the drum becoming inoperative before the door is completely closed, and means for imposing tension upon each of the stretches of the flexible member operating to complete the closing movement of the door.

5. In combination with a closure member movable into either open or closed ,po- S1tlOI1, a drum, a flexible member adapted to wind around the drum, said member being operatively engaged with the door to move the door into'either open or closed position -upon requisite rotation of the drum, means 

